


Frondine

by helado de brownie (helado)



Category: Caves of Qud (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Burgeoning (Caves of Qud Mutation), Cute, Minor Character Death, Near Death Experience, Other, Pyrokinesis (Caves of Qud Mutation)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-15
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2020-05-12 06:16:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19223320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helado/pseuds/helado%20de%20brownie
Summary: I'm a cave delver in a tight spot who is narrowly saved from death by an unexpected arrival.





	1. Fleur

Well, this is it.

I'm trapped in a cul de sac of some no-name cave, where no one will find my corpse, and only the villagers of some village in the hills that no one cares about will even wonder where I got off to. And these little `biters` are likely to tear the meat from my bone once they've finished draining enough blood from my body that I stop resisting.

I _should_ have gone the other way. I _should_ have remembered to identify the strange syringe I found. I _should_ have traded my water for a better knife, even though it would've meant skimping on water for a little while.

So now it's my turn to face the fate of dozens of adventurers before me. Is _this_ what that Moon King Fever I've heard about is? This urge to press on in the face of utter hopelessness, until I finally get myself into a situation I can't get myself out of?

Well, there's _one_ thing left that I can do. It _never_ helps though. But I might as well do it now.

I pull open a gate in my mind, and, in between me and the `friendly` bipedal hyenas, the energies that are always threatening to flood out of my mind manifest. I hope to Obo that at least one of the explosive ones appears, since at least they're as likely to take down `my gracious hosts` as they are me.

What appears instead is a single glowpad.

I suppose I'll die.

“ _Halt!_ ” I hear a starchy voice say.

The snapjaws do halt.

“I hight Princex Donyarbetuthesfleur, of the Frondine Kingdom of the dimension Ought Ought Acht Neun! You shall turn back whence you came, lest you incur my wrath!”

I can't believe what I'm hearing. I summoned an extradimensional glowpad… ? What is it even going to do—

One of the `frolickers` takes one more step forward, and then erupts into a column of flame, leaving behind nothing but ash.

“Who else shall I smite for their insolence?”

I can see the horror on their faces, which gives way to raw terror as they flee for their lives.

I'm left alone with the glowpad, whose attention I can _feel_ turn towards me.

“Art thou hurt, my lady?” says the glowpad.

It hardly registers with me that it's speaking to me, because my brain is still failing to process exactly what just happened.

“Still in shock from the vandals' assault, no doubt.” it continues. “Rest assured, now that thou hast freed me, I shall make my sincere best efforts to ensure thou comest to no harm.”

“What…” I struggle to find _something_ to say. “What did you say your name was?”

“Princex Donyarbetuthesfleur. If thou findest that a mouthful, thou mayest refer to me as Fleur, a special honor I confer unto thee for drawing me forth from my prison.”

“Fleur.” I slowly begin to organize my thoughts again. “What… _prison_ were you in?”

“Of its true nature I know not, only that I was kept there for a time outside of time. It was all that I could do to keep myself physically whole in that place, where substance flowed as water; I could spare no effort to contemplate the nature of my prison.”

“So someone… tried to _kill_ you, by sending you outside of _time_?”

“That is as close to an understanding of the matter as I myself have come to. It is unfortunate that I do have many enemies, some of which are powerful, a rare few of which have power rivaling my own. Speak not of that which I have just said to _anyone_ ; another token of trust which I offer thee for the services thou hast rendered unto me, and which one day I hope to repay in full. Truthfully, there is no way alone in which I could foresee myself escaping, even in hindsight, so it is a life debt that I owe thee.”

I need a moment to process this.

No, several moments. _Many_ moments.

Actually, I'm not sure I could appreciate the sheer astounding improbability of this sequence of events even if I were reading the story of my life out of a book in the afterlife and had an entire reading club to help me process it.

Shortcutting all of that, I say, “Very well. I accept your… service. So… what exactly are you offering?”

“I shall protect thee until such time as I have averted thine otherwise certain death, after which I shall seek a means of returning to my home, or what may remain of it. There is much I am uncertain of, I'm afraid; my only certainty is my power, and the debt I owe thee.”

“Sounds good.” I decide not to point out that Fleur _already_ averted my pretty `darned` certain death. I'm not sure what else to say. “How… do you move around?”

“The very same way as _any_ of my kin move around. Or hast thou perhaps never met a glowpad?”

“I have, and they're not particularly known for moving.”

“Ah, then it must be some cousin of mine, but no true glowpad that thou hast met. Behold!” Fleur rises gently into the air, drifts a ways laterally, then is deposited once again to the ground.

“Is it… telekinesis?”

“Thou speakest of mind magic, no? But the true nature of my movement comes from an intuitive understanding of the dimensional tides. I'm afraid it would be quite impossible to explain to one uninitiated.”

“That's fine then. Do you want to get out of here, and maybe get somewhere safer so we can figure all of this out?”

“Lead the way, my good lady.”

And so it is that I begin my journey with Fleur, a glowpad princex from another dimension.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the first chapter of a multi-chapter story. The rest will come as I gather the patience to write them.
> 
> Fleur's name doesn't really mean anything, other than the "fleur" part. I just made up something extravagant-sounding.
> 
> Since the characters aren't _actually_ speaking English, modern or otherwise, the “thou” and such is actually just an approximation for Fleur's vocabulary sounding out of date from the viewpoint character's perspective.


	2. Alex

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is talking.

The way back to the surface is well paved by blood — snapjaw, beetle, and human (mine) alike. Seeing the three different types of blood mix together reminds me of when I used to paint, which calms me for a moment. Of course, painting didn't use to require this much violence.

Fleur and I make it to the surface and we both sit down on an improvized log bench.

“May I ask the name of the lady I am traveling with?” says Fleur.

“Alex.” I respond.

“Dost thou have a title or a surname?”

“No surname, no title, just Alex. I chose that name for myself, and my… parent never gave me their surname anyway.”

I feel curiosity radiate from Fleur, as if they were raising one non-existent eyebrow, but they don't inquire specifically about that. Instead they say, “Very well, Alex. Despite the circumstances in which we met, I can tell that thou art a savvy delver, for thou carriest a relic of power at thy hip.”

“Oh, this junk?” I say, sliding the hand axe from its sheath on my belt. “It never did _anything_ useful until it summoned _you_. I would get rid of it if it weren't _cursed_.”

“Curst, thou sayest? I happen to know a thing about bendictions. If thou sayest the word, thou couldst be rid of this relic.”

I blink twice. “Really? Easy as that?”

“Indeed. Shall I?”

I think for a moment. I'm not sure I'd ever be able to pick it up again if I left it, and it _did_ summon Fleur. And also… “Would the uncursing also remove its ability?”

“In all likelihood, they stem from the same source.”

“Then nah. I mean, what if it does that again?”

“Does what? Summon me?”

“Well, not _you_ again necessarily, but I mean. It turned out not to be _totally_ useless, right?”

“My opinion may be biased, but if thou wert to ask it of me, I would tell thee that I am indeed not _totally_ useless.”

I chortle. “I see you have a sense of humor, besides talking all fancy.”

“I would not have imagined a contradiction between the two. Besides this, my speech is only what is proper for one of my station.”

“I dunno. Aren't you worried about drawing too much attention?”

“Nay, the thought had not crossed my mind that there is such a thing as _too much_ attention.”

I giggle. “My guess is that kinda thing is what got you sent to time jail in the first place. But suit yourself. Wanna get away from this `mouth` made of rock?” I gesture at the cave entrance.

“What was that?”

I tense up. “What was what?”

“Thy tone shifted when thou saidst ‘mouth’.”

“That was just a hiccup.”

“Nay.”

I sigh. “Okay, fine, `leaf`wad, if you really wanna know, I can't say bad words. If I try, it comes out like… that.”

“Is this a curse thou wouldst be rid of?”

“Yeah, but… save your blessings or whatever. It wouldn't work.”

“Thou underestimatest me. I am capable of—”

“I'm _programmed_ this way!” I don't _mean_ to blurt it out, because I _really_ don't want to have this conversation with someone I just met, but… well, things don't always go to plan. Today is a testament to that.

Fleur ‘stares’ at me for a moment before realization dawns on their… countenance. “Thou art a robot?”

“I'm a _human_. But I was _born_ a robot and I'm made of robot parts and everything.”

“Then… in what sense art thou a human?”

I glare at them. “The sense that if you continue to insist that I'm a robot, I'm going to see how well you float on a lake of lava.”

“… Very well. I apologize for my indiscretion, and will do my best to refer to thee properly as a human henceforth.”

“There's a good glowpad.” I turn to stare ahead of me. Memories of my father flood my mind. I physically shake my body to get them out of my head.

“Well, good lady, shall we… depart?” says Fleur.

I shrug. “I've got nowhere else to go.”

“Art thou not a delver? Is this land not filled with caves in which to delve?”

“I'm a delver but I'm a `sorry` one. I deserved to die back there.” I'm coming dangerously close to admitting that Fleur _already_ saved my life, but at this point, I'm just tired and don't care.

“How would a ‘sorry’ delver have obtained a relic of power such as the one thou holdst?”

I look them in the… face. “It was guarded by a salt weep. Not even a psychic one, just a regular-`like` salt weep.”

Fleur holds their silence for a moment. Then they say, “Then, that shall be my goal while I protect thee. I shall help thee to become a delver like none other!”

I scoff. “What are your credentials?”

“When I was but a child, I scoured the caves of my own home dimension looking for treasures. There were dangers of sorts I'm sure thou hast never seen, and I came out half-dead, and were it not for my own peculiar advantages, I would have died. I have the experience of one who would have died were they in my place; does that suffice for thy purposes?”

“I guess. I'm just not really… _feeling_ the delving thing much lately. Especially not after today.”

“Hmm. Very well. We may play it safe if thou desirest. After all, I am in no hurry to be done with my services to thee. It is not _only_ thy countenace that I find charming.”

Excuse me, is this glowpad _flirting_ with me?

Is this _glowpad_ flirting with me?

Is this glowpad flirting with _me_?

“Alex… art thou well?” says Fleur as my entire body flops onto the ground and I convulse as I half-giggle, half-gurgle incoherently for several moments.

After several moments, I leap to my feet, strike a defiant pose, and say: “Okay, `friend`, so be it. Let's _date_!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed!


End file.
